Desolation
by Midnight-Mist49
Summary: It has been 28 days since the rage virus spread through London. This is the survival story of Cole Martin. Can he make it out of London alive?
1. Prologue

_Desolation _

By: Midnight-Mist49

_Prologue_

It had been twenty-eight days since the outbreak, since almost all of London was thrown into complete chaos. Very few survived, and most that did were infected. The virus was horrible. It spread through blood, turning innocent people into ravenous killers. The host became unappreciative of humanity, and only sought to kill. Mothers against children, relatives against family members, even brothers were torn apart by the infestation.

Twenty-eight days.

Cole Martin awoke to the smell of rotten flesh. He lay inches away from a dead infected. Blood dyed his dark brown hair, a brilliant red. His green eyes, clouded in the haze. He sat up, feeling gravel under him. He looked around, and noticed he was on a roof. He couldn't remember anything. His friend James lay unconscious a few feet away. He looked out over the rooftops at the red-orange sunset. It didn't seem as beautiful as it did before.

I know its short, but more will come. Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 1

_Part 1_

Cole walked over to James to wake him. He had known him since pre-school days. They had grown apart among the years, but now, James was all Cole had, and he couldn't lose his best friend like he had lost his family. He knew they were still out there though, looking for him.

He navigated through the dead bodies. What had happened? He couldn't remember anything. The last thing he remembered was being cornered on the rooftop, then; nothing.

"James, wake up. James!"

James stirred, and opened his eyes.

"Cole, what the hell happened?" he asked as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"I don't know, but we had better find somewhere to get this blood off. We don't want to go killing each other."

Cole was helping James to his feet, when it stirred. A dead infected lay on the other side of the roof, leaning over the parapet. It twitched, but began moving its arms, as if awakening.

"Go, go go!" whispered Cole hurriedly. They opened a door, and slipped into the stairwell. Cole saw the infected look up at them and hiss. He slammed the door shut and locked it quickly.

"C'mon, lets get out of here." James insisted. Cole didn't need any more convincing.

They ran down the stairs, and stepped into a bank lobby with money, and documents thrown everywhere. Printers were ripped apart, filing cabinets were knocked over, and chairs were overturned. Blood dripping from a counter top made the only sound in the eerie building, yet there were no bodies.

"There must be a bathroom around here somewhere." said James, ignoring the fact that the place was a complete wreck. That was James though, always having his mind on one particular thing; nothing else. They walked down a hallway to the bathroom. Once they entered, Cole could immediately identify the smell of rotten flesh. Blood spattered against the walls. James washed his face and hands off, and backed away so Cole could do the same.

"Damn this place is creepy"

"Tell me about it." said Cole, drying his face off. "Let's get out of here."

They stepped out of the bank, and onto the street. Papers flew wistfully in the wind, cars lay abandoned and wrecked. It was deathly quiet. The frenzied shrieks of infected echoed across the city.

"That scream gets me every time." said Cole, rubbing the goose bumps from his arms.

"We need some place to stay." James suggested. "The hotels aren't safe, and everywhere else is either burnt up or an infected trap."

"What about the military base?" asked Cole. "They have food, water and contact to other places."

"Good idea," said James. "But it's five miles away. The infected will surely have killed us then."

"Not if we defend ourselves." said Cole, pointing to a hunting shop.

James twisted the door knob, but it was locked.

"Who the hell takes the time to lock their store during a zombie invasion?" James growled.

"Let's go around back. Maybe there is another entrance." Cole suggested.

They walked around to the back of the store. James tried the door there.

"Damn, this one is locked to." He scolded.

"Give me a boost into that open window" said Cole, pointing to an open window about three meters up the wall. Cole stood on James's shoulders, and peeked in.

He immediately wished he hadn't. A pile of bodies lay in the back room. Blood drenched the walls like paint. Red footprints made a trail into a room. The door was bolted shut.

"I don't think we should go in there James." Cole warned.

"Why not?" James asked. They switched places.

"Damn, what happened here?" he asked.

"Someone killed some people." Cole said, sarcastically.

"Well, no shit, Sherlock."

"Keep digging, Watson." Cole shot back, his shoulders becoming weak under James's constant shifting.

"Well, we need weapons. Let's do it." James decided. Cole hesitated, but let James clamber through the window.

Yay, a cliffhanger! Thanks for reading, review if you want.


	3. Chapter 2

_Part 2_

The roar of a helicopter broke the silence of the city. Delta squad looked out over the crestfallen area below them.

"I never thought I'd see this hell hole again" one soldier commented.

Another soldier examined his assault rifle.

"Remember, this is standard maintenance." The pilot said through the speaker. "We'll pick you up at the extraction point; suit up."

The soldiers pulled gas masks over their faces, and strapped on their armor.

Five cables were dropped, and dangled loosely from the chopper. Each of the men attached themselves to the lines. A cloud of dust formed as the helicopter descended.

"Welcome to hell boys" the pilot said.

The masked figures rappelled down the ropes, easily. Fifty feet below, their feet touched ground. They disconnected their harnesses, and raised their weapons while moving in a group down the street.

Cole looked up to the sky as a military helicopter flew over.

"Shit, special forces are here!" he called into the window. A second later he heard James's reply.

"Damn, we should have known about clean-up." He scolded. "C'mon in, the stench is great." He teased.

"Smartass" Cole mumbled as he climbed through the window.

The smell of the room was unbearable. The bodies in the corner were being swarmed by flies. They walked down a long hallway to the front. James grabbed a shotgun and shells, while Cole took a sub-machine gun from a display case, along with some ammo, and a stock.

"Did you hear that?" James asked, stopping in his tracks.

"No, what was it?" Cole asked, attaching the stock to his gun, and loading it.

"It sounded like…breathing."

They both looked at each other, and then at the bolted door at the end of the hallway.

"Hell no." Cole said, predicting James's next words.

"C'mon, the door is bolted, and we're armed." James pressured

"Go on ahead, I'm staying back here." Cole announced.

James rolled his eyes, and walked down the hallway, his gun aimed at the door.

He approached, and pressed his ear to the door. Cole could see his eyes widen and he ran toward the front of the store just as the thing in the room started screaming and banging on the door.

"Have fun?" Cole questioned

"Kiss my ass." James said, still in shock of what just happened. They shot the lock off of the front door, and exited into the street.

Delta squad broke into two teams. One team would take the alleys, and one, the streets.

"You know your orders. Shoot anything that moves; infected or otherwise." Ordered one soldier as the other team entered an alleyway.

Delta one eliminated the infected from the streets in the surrounding area. One infected leapt at them from a bush, but was shot down. Two more ran around from the side of a building. A soldier ran at them, gunning them both down, with a barrage of gunfire.

"Delta two, delta two; hostiles encountered and neutralized. Over." One soldier spoke into his mouthpiece.

"Roger delta one, we are relocating to the rooftops for a vantage point. Please advise."

"It looks clear from down here delta two. Proceed"

Delta two cautiously made their way up the stairs. One soldier unlocked the door, and opened it. Just as he stepped outside, he was tackled to the ground by an infected.

"Shit! Hostile encountered, Delta one, Private Mitchell is down, I repeat, Private Mitchell is down!" The soldier screamed into his mouthpiece as he fired a burst of fire into the infected's back. It fell off the building, and hit the concrete with a sickening thud.

"Mitchell, are you okay?" he asked.

Private Mitchell shot up, the veins in his eyes pulsating, and his eye color turning a reddish color. He screamed, and flung himself onto the parapet, vomiting over the side of the building. He grabbed his stomach, and fell back onto the roof, howling in pain.

"Delta one, we need a medic, ASAP."  
"Roger Delta two, we are inbound on your position."

Private Mitchell screeched as he tore at his skin. Seizures plagued him as he fought to stop the infection in his body. He finally lay still. The soldier walked up to him slowly, expecting the worst. Mitchell whirled around, and leapt to his feet; hunger in his eyes as he stared at his teammate. Delta one busted through the door just as the infected Mitchell dove at the soldier; two quick bursts of fire, and he lay on the ground. His teammate leaned against a wall, panting.

"Ah, shit." A soldier said solemnly. They said a blessing, and walked down into the street.

Hearing the gunshots, Cole and James sprinted down the abandoned streets to the military base. The sun was setting, casting an orange glow across the city.

"Damn, they can see our shadows." Cursed James

"Let's, find somewhere to sleep." Cole suggested. "The infected will be out soon."

"Well, how about that old-"James's sentence was cut short as an ear-piercing scream filled the night air.

Two infected sprinted at them from down the street. Cole fired blindly behind him as he ran, hoping to get a lucky shot.

"Quick, in that alley!" commanded James.

They cut through the alley, and began climbing up the fire escape. James was up, and Cole had started climbing when the infected skidded into the alleyway. They ran at the platform, screeching like animals. Cole finally reached the top. He whirled around and swung the stock of his gun like a bat, knocking one infected into a dumpster.

The duo began to climb ever higher, not wanting to know what was behind them, or ahead.

James leaned over the railing and fired off rounds at the infected that was climbing after them. Discarded shells flew out of his gun, and rattled onto the floor as he fired. The infected dodged the shots, and clambered onto the final platform; the one Cole and James were on. James ran backwards, but tripped, and slammed onto the grate floor. Cole was running towards him, but the infected was already on top of him. Its tongue slithered in and out of its mouth, and its eyes flicked wildly from side to side.

"You sorry piece of shit"

Those were the last words the infected heard. James angled his shotgun barrel up, and pulled the trigger.

An eruption of blood flew into the air, the infected's intestines were shot out, and wrapped around poles. The blast blew the creature's spine completely in half. It was blasted upward, and of the fire escape. It landed in a heap at the bottom of the alleyway. James quickly wiped the blood on his face off with his sleeve. Cole just stood there, in shock. Their celebration was short lived. They soon heard a walkie-talkie buzz to life.

"Delta one, two male civilians located; proceeding to neutralize."


End file.
